Study Finds Vitamin E May Delay Decline in Mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s Disease

Faculty of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, working with Veterans Administration Medical Centers, have presented research that suggests alpha tocepherol, fat-soluble Vitamin E and antioxidant may slow functional decline (problems with daily activities such as shopping, preparing meals, planning, and traveling) in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease and decrease caregiver burden. This could be an important finding, since difficulty with activities of daily living often affect Alzheimer’s patients, which is estimated to affect as many as 5.1 million Americans. These issues are among the most taxing burdens of the disease for caregivers, which total about 5.4 million family members and friends. The finding also is valuable because vitamin E is inexpensive and easy to purchase at local drugstores. The clinical trial investigators believe it can be recommended as a treatment strategy, based on the double-blind randomized controlled trial. The study was published online first in the Jan. 1, 2014, Journal of the American Medical Association. To read more about this story, click here.